What happened?
On 15 June, in a statement on the NATO summit, a spokesperson from the Chinese Mission to the EU said: "By claiming that China presents so called "systemic challenges", NATO is slandering China's peaceful development and misjudging the international situation and its own role. It represents a continuation of the Cold War mentality and bloc politics." The statement also read: "China urges NATO to view China's development in a rational manner, stop hyping up in any form the so-called "China threat", and stop taking China's legitimate interests and rights as an excuse to manipulate bloc politics, create confrontation and fuel geopolitical cooperation".

On 14 June, a spokesperson from the Chinese embassy in the UK responded to the G7 summit by saying: "This wanton smearing of China and blatant interference in its internal affairs flagrantly violates the basic norms of international relations and further exposes the ulterior motive of a handful of countries, including the United States. We are gravely concerned and firmly opposed to this." The spokesperson continued: "We urge the United States and other G7 members to respect facts, see the actual situation in perspective, stop slandering China, cease interfering in our internal affairs, stop infringing upon our interests and do more to promote international cooperation instead of creating confrontation and friction."

What is the background?
First, China's rise. China has grown from an Asian giant to a global superpower. It has a massive economy of USD 14 trillion and is expected to overtake the US to become the largest economy of the world. China's GDP expanded by 2.3 per cent last year, making it speedily recover from the COVID-19 slump. China is also posing a technological challenge to the West by repeatedly harnessing its technological prowess through 5G communications, artificial intelligence, hypersonic weapons, and quantum computing. China's military expenditure is almost 70 per cent of the US' defence budget and it has showcased its military might in the South China sea. The country has used all these strengths to influence the ideological leadership debate as well. Chinese national authoritarianism is competing with the western liberal democracy. 

Second, China's rise seen as a challenge by the US and Europe. The US has led the march against Chinese influence in both organizations. It is one of the issues on which President Joe Biden and ex-President Donald Trump have shown agreeability. Trump had even suggested the expansion of the G7 group to counter Chinese dominance. Biden has led the G7 closer in the pursuit against China in his maiden summit. NATO is used to deliberations on Russia but is facing trouble due to the new opponent, China.

Third, China's response to G7 and NATO. China has maintained an aggressive opposition to the two groups. It has consistently criticized G7 and opposed NATO due to the Cold War mentality and alliance politics. China has actively focused on the rest of the world as a playground for its economic and political strategies, giving less importance to the global panels. Following a realpolitik approach, China has stayed true to its belief that small groups do not rule the world.

What does it mean?
First, although China does not pose a direct military threat to the NATO signatories, it has remained a major military force in East Asia. Hence, it becomes difficult to position the alliance against China. However, now that China is extensively discussed in NATO, it will have to reassess its own military standing in the western hemisphere. 

Second, China has greatly invested in European countries, and G7 does not possess enough resources to replace Chinese investments. Therefore, any country has to be careful of the long-term implications of terming China as a "threat".